Can someone summarize this text please!! Society changes, but certain democratic principles remain true. Among them is the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers as proclaimed in Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Freedom of expression implies respect for the universality of the right to communicate. Freedom of expression is fundamental to democracy, a necessary precondition to the exercise of other rights – such as the right to vote, the right to freedom of assembly and to freedom of association with others – and it is essential to ensure press freedom. Freedom of expression is a matter of law and politics, but also of ethics and morality (Carlsson et al. 2018, Enjolras et al. 2014, Rønning 2009, 2016). Without education and reasonably good health citizens cannot exercise their rights. Not everyone has these benefits – in many cases due to poverty, social injustice, gender discrimination, ethnic or religious discrimination, unemployment – and lack of access to information and knowledge (Sen 1999, Norris 2004, UNDP 2018). In this context we should bear in mind that nearly half of humanity lacks internet access (ITU 2018, SPI 2018). In numerous countries internet access is actively limited, and its use is closely monitored (SPI 2018, UNESCO 2018). Scholars who study societal development agree as to the importance of good governance and stress the value of honest and competent institutions, mutual trust among the citizens – and freedom of expression, which includes the independence and diversity of media. Ultimately, the prerequisites for democracy and social change boil down to striving toward equality, not least gender equality, and social justice. (Cf. Bennet 2012, Carlsson et al. 2018, Charron et al. 2013, 2018, Couldry et al. 2018, Dahl 2007, Price 2014, Norris 2004, Sen 1999, UNESCO 1980). The media have long been seen as stewards and arbitrators of freedom of expression. As such, they are vital to democratic social systems. Free and independent media are presumed to provide access to information, mediate daily life, hold the powerful accountable, and provide platforms for open and factually informed discussions and dialogues – in short, a public space for the democratic conversation (Dewey 1927, Habermas 1989). Left to their own devices, ‘the market’ and technological innovations per se cannot be presumed to produce media that fulfill these expectations; some form of rules and regulations are required. New technologies offer greater immediacy, volume and variety of content and services that involve and engage more and more people. Doing so, they have changed many aspects of the media landscape and affected people’s communication and habits. The current media environment, especially social media, has opened the doors to views and objectives that otherwise would not become so widely known; hate speech and threats have, for example, become commonplace. Changes like these in turn have broader consequences in social, cultural and political life.